Uk
Edinburgh is top city outside of London in UK for commercial property investment
Edinburgh has topped a list of the most attractive British locations for commercial property investment outside of London, according to new research. Research amongst British property investors by the law firm Morton Fraser’s commercial real estate division ranks a list of 10 British cities according to their attractiveness as investment options. Edinburgh is ranked best with 52% naming it as an attractive option, followed by Bristol with 48%, Manchester with 40% and Leeds and Cardiff, both with 31% and then Glasgow with 30%. Birmingham is ranked next with 26%, Newcastle with 21%, Dundee with 17% and Aberdeen 16%. More investors found the top three attractive propositions than those who did not. However, the remaining seven cities did not appeal to the majority of investors, with more rating them an unattractive investment proposition rather than an appealing one. Aberdeen is rated the least attractive location for property investors and this is perhaps not surprising due to its energy dependent economy being hit by falling oil prices, leading to thousands of job losses and the contraction of the oil and gas industry. ‘The three ‘net positive’ cities in our league table have demonstrated real economic resilience since the recession. Their success in protecting inward investment, attracting business and talent, and developing infrastructure means property investors can more easily envisage long-term gains,’ said David Stewart, commercial real estate partner at Morton Fraser,. ‘Regional commercial property investment has a lower upfront capital cost but can often return higher yields and longer tenant leases, improving income security. However, those benefits are outweighed by perceived economic risks in most regional cities by potential investors,’ he added. According to Morton Fraser, Leeds, Cardiff and Glasgow will all expect to move into a net positive investment score in the coming year after at least 30% of investors felt they were attractive locations. They have also negotiated city region deals with the UK Government collectively worth at least £3 billion. ‘Demand for equity stakes in commercial property vehicles has increased in recent years as investors seek value and flexibility in the asset class. City region devolution will play a key role in ensuring investors see regional locations as positive income generating opportunities,’ Stewart explained. ‘That said, experience shows that a good property investment can withstand economic fluctuations and the right opportunities can be found in all these locations,’ he concluded. Continue reading
Research reveals the housing market winners to mark first games of Euro football cup
With the European Championship football tournament underway new research shows which countries have done best in terms of house prices since the last cup four years ago. The price of mainstream homes have increases in more than 74% of the countries competing in the tournament, according to the study from international real estate agent Knight Frank. Turkey topped the rankings with an increase of 65.6%, followed by the Republic of Ireland with price growth of 34.3% and Sweden up 32%. In fourth place is Iceland with house prices up by 30.6%, followed closely by England where prices are up 29.7%, Germany up 19.7%, Austria up 16.5%, Northern Ireland up by 15.6% and Russia up 15.2%. Next is Wales with price growth of 14.1% in the last four years, Switzerland up 10.3%, the Czech Republic up 8.2%, Hungary up 8.1%, Belgium up 4%, Poland up by 1.8%, Portugal up by 1.4% and Slovakia up by 0.9%. The country with the worst ranking is Ukraine where house prices have fallen by 22.6% but this is not surprising considering the unrest in recent years. Second from bottom is Italy where prices are down 13.1% and then Croatia where prices have fallen by 9% since the last tournament in 2012. In Romania prices are down 0.5%, France down 5.7%, Spain down 7.2%. Kate Everett-Allen, head of international residential research at Knight Frank, pointed out that the divergent performance of northern and southern Europe is evident. ‘The Nordic countries along with Ireland, England and Germany have seen prices accelerate while prices in most of the southern European economies still sit below their level in 2012,’ she said. Continue reading
UK property supply down almost 5% in May
Residential property supply in the UK increased by 4.8% in May but a breakdown of the figures show that the number of homes for sale fell in half of the towns covered by the index. In total month on month supply was down in 50.4% of towns with the biggest falls coming in the towns of Southport and Loughborough at 28% and 24.1% respectively. The data from the index from online estate agent HouseSimple also shows that towns in the Midlands saw the biggest increase in supply with Lichfield up 56% and Chesterfield up 36%. The index, which tracks the number of new properties marketed every month in more than 100 major towns and cities across the UK and all London boroughs, also shows that of the areas that saw the biggest falls in supply some 47% were in the North of England. In London supply was also down by 2.4% overall in May with the City of Westminster seeing the biggest drop at 33%. The overall fall follows a decline of just 0.8% in April. The borough of Bexley also saw a significant fall following a huge peak in April, when new property listings were up 58.9%. However, despite the overall fall in London dome 53% of its 32 boroughs saw an increase in supply last month. Waltham Forest saw property supply rise 31% month on month following an 8% increase in April and Merton saw supply increase 30% in May following a 15% increase in April. ‘Although property supply was up in May, in large swathes of the country, the number of new properties listed fell,’ said the firm’s chief executive officer Alex Gosling. He believes that the confidence of buyers could be affected by the forthcoming referendum on the future of the UK in the European Union and predicts that in the run up to the poll on 23 June there could be a significant drop off in activity at a time when historically there is a lot of activity in the property market. ‘On the flip side, this could actually provide an opportunity for prospective buyers, who have their finance in place and can move fast, as they may be able to negotiate a good deal with motivated sellers keen to tie up a sale before 23 June,’ he added. Continue reading
